Radiator for motor-vehicles



C. W. E. CLARKE.

RADIATOR FDR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLlcATmN FILED Aue.21.191s.

Pat-@md Sgm. 13, 1921 3 SHEETS-SHEET1.

C. VV. E. CLARKE.

RADIATOR FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.21 1918;

POtOntOdSOpt. 13, 1921,

3 SHEETSHSHEET 3.

CHARLES W. CLARKE, 0F NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RADIATOR FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 13, 1921.

Application filed August 21, 1913. Serial No. 250,785.

lTo all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES W. E.

CLARKE, a citizen of the United States, re-v siding at Chestnut Hill, in the city of Newton, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Im rovements in Radiators for Motor-Vehic es, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

Motor vehicles that are driven by internal combustion engines are usually equipped with a radiator which forms part of the cooling system for the engine. That is, the water or other circulating medium employed in the cooling system iiows from the engine through the radiator, lwhere the heat of the water is dissipated by a current'of air that usually is forced through the radiator by a fan, and the water so cooled is returne to the engine jacket where it takes upheat from the engine cylinders, and then flows again into the radiator. In warm weather the water in this circulating system evaporates at a relatively rapid rate so that it is necessary to replenish the supply in the system at frequent intervals. In very cold weather it is necessar to add some substance, usually alcoho, to the circulating water to keep it from freezing when the engine is not in operation and, since the alcohol has a boiling point much lower than that of water, it is dlstilled out of the circulating water so rapidly while the engine is in operation that it is necessary to add more alcohol;frequently in order to maintain a suiicicn't percentage in the water to prevent freezing. l

While the necessity for replenishing the supply of water in the circulating systemis merely an inconvenience, the necessity for correspondingly. replenishing the supply of alcohol is a substantial expense, particularly at prevailing prices. lThe present invention aims to reduce materially the loss of alcohol and water from the circulating system and thus, not only to decrease the annoyance, labor and attention required to keep the proper supply of water in the s stem, but also to reduce the expense caused liy the loss of alcohol from the system. It proposed heretofore to provide some'kind of a condenser designed -toaccomplish this purpose, but none of the arrangements herehas beentofore devised have proved practically successful, so far as I have been able to learn. The present invention aims to overcome the difficulties that have been found to exist in these prior constructions and to devise a thoroughly practical means for accomplishing` this result.

he invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be pointed out more particularly in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an automobile radiator embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view. taken substantlally on the line 2 2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a radiatorI embodying the invention in a dierent form,

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the radiator shown in Fig. 3; and c Fig. 5 is a front elevation showing another modification; and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the radiator shown in Fig. 5.

' The construction shown in Figs. l and 2 comprises a radiator frame 2 of a usual form, containing a radiator made in two sections, a lower section 3 and an upper section 4. Any suitable type'of radiator construction may be used in making the sections,

that shown in these figures consisting of two headers connected by a series of small tubes having a multitude of fins projecting from them. The cellular type of construction may, however, be used equally as well and the upper section need not necessarily be of exactly the same construction as the lower section, although from the standpoint of appearance, it is usually considered preferable to use the same construction in both sections.

The upper section is insulated fromthe lower section in any suitable manner, as for instance, by an air space or by insulating material of some suitable nature such as asbestos, felt, or the like, this material being indicated in the drawings at 5. A filling pipe or tube 6 leads into the upper header of the lower section 3l and is provided with a screw cap 7 which normally closes the upper end of this tube tightly. This'lower section 3 forms'the water'co'oling section of the radiator and performs the same functions that the entire radiator usually per vapors are subjected to the forms in a motor vehicle. A pipe 8 leads the hot water from the upper end of the engine jacket into the upper part of the section 3, and another pipe 9 carries the cooled water back from the lower end of the radiator section to the lower part of the engine jacket. The maximum water level in the system is determined by an overflow pipe 10 which leads out of the upper header of the water cooling section 3. n order to prevent vapor from escaping through. this overflow it pre erably is'provided with a trap 11, which is vented at 11 to prevent the water seal in the trap from siphoning out.

After the engine has been in operation for a short time, the water in the circulating system becomes heated to such a point that an appreciable quantity of vapor rises from the body of water in the lower radiator section 3. This vapor flows up through the filling pipe 6 and enters one side of the upper radiator section 4 ythrough an inlet opening 12 provided in the wall of the filling tube 6. A vent pipe or tube 13, 'preferably of small bore so as to provide relatively a restricted opening, leads from the opposite side of the upper radiator'section 4 to a point adjacent to the lower end of the radiator. The vapors entering the upper section 4 thus are compelled to travel the entire length of this section in order to reach the vent 13 and consequently these maximum cooling or condensing action of this section. The greater part of these vapors therefore will be condensed and the condensed liquid will trickle back into the water cooling section 3 through the opening 12 inthe pipe 6. This upper radiator section thus constitutes a vapor condensing section which receives the vapors from the water cooling section 3, but instead of allowing these vapors to escape into the atmosphere, it condenses them and returns the condensation products to the water cooling section. The loss of water and alcohol from the cooling system thus is very materially reduced. By using for the condensing section a construction of the general type illustrated, a very effective condensin action is produced and the insulation o the upper section from the lower section further contributes to the efliciency of this arrangement.-

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate another construction that can be used although I consider the general arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 as preferable. In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the radiator 15 instead of being made in two sections separated from each other, as in Figs. 1 and 2, is made in a single section and may either be of the cellular or any other suitable construction. The water inlet 16 from the engine jacket, however, instead of being led into the top of the radiator, as in the more -ticularly in weather requiring the f but can only be filled to a point determined by the height of the trap. A; vent pipe 22 leads out of the upper end of the radiator.

It will now be evident that this construction, by virtue of the position of the overflow pipe, divides the radiator into two sections, a lower section through which the water in the circulating system flows and is cooled, and an upper section in direct communication with the lower section and which receives the vapors from the latter section. The greater part of these vapors are condensed as they rise toward the upper part of the radiator and move toward the vent 22.

In both of the constructions above described a valve 23 may be located in the overflow pipe so that, if desired, the passage through this pipe can be closed and the condensing section can then be filled with water, the vents 13 and 22 each acting then both as a vent and also as an overflow, as in the usual constructions. In other words, with the valve 23 closed and the condensing section filled, or substantially filled, with 100 water, both sections would act as water cooling sections and they would combine to op erate in the same manner that an automobile radiator operates in the usual arrangement. This construction may be of advantage in 105 extremely hot weather when the entire radiating surface of both sections can be utilized to cool the water in the circulating s stem, while in colder weather, and paruse of al- 110 cohol in the circulating system, the valve 23 can be opened and the system will then i operate in the manner previously described.

A pet cock 24 may be tapped vinto the bottom of the radiator to drain it.

A further modification is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 which show an arrangement in which the vapor condensing section 25 is located below the water cooling section 26. The circulating water is lead to the upper 120 end of the section 26 by a connection 27 and is conducted away from the lower end of this section to the engine by another connection 28. The upper header of the section 26 is provided with a filling opening that is 125 normally closed tightly by a cap 29 and this opening is located below the upper end of the header so that the upper radiator section can never be completely filled with water. In other words, this arrangement li1n- 130 the other sections to act as meedere its the height of the water in the same way that the overdow performs this function in embodiments of the invention above described, A tube or pipe 30 leads from the upper end of the water cooling section 26 into the j densing section 25, as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and serves to conduct the vapor that accumulates at the top of the water cooling section into the condensing section. rllhis vapor flows through the condensing section toward the vent 31 which opens out of the top of the lower section at a point remote from the point at which the pipe 30 enters this section. It will now be understood that the vapor delivered to the lower section will be condensed in this section and the water so formed will accumulate at the bottom of the radiator. When the engine is stopped and the water cooling section of the radiator is allowed' to cool oli, the partial vacuum created therein, due lto the contraction of the air and vapor in this section, will cause the atmospheric pressure to force part or all of the condensed liquid in the lower section 25 up through the pipe 30 into the upper section 26. The condensing section may be drained through the cock 32.

lltwill be evident that the arrangement disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6 has some advantages over those disclosed in the other figures, as for instance, that of placing the vapor condensing section in a cooler location and bringing it adjacent to the coolest part of the water cooling section instead of adjacent to the hottest part, as in the other arrangements. For similar reasons it may be desirable under some circumstances to locate the vapor condensing and water cooling sections side by side instead of having one above the other. The necessity for insulating one section from the other is substantiall eliminated by the arrangement shown in igs. 5 and 6, although a sheet of felt or the like preferably is placed between the a cushion or packing.

The construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is not claimed s ecifically herein but is so claimed in a divisional application Serial No. 338,708 filed November 17, 1919. Generic claims, however, are presented in the present case.

While l have herein shown and described the best embodiments of the invention of which I am at present aware, it is obvious that these embodiments may be modified in many respects without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The `1nvention, therefore, is not limited to the embodiments thereof herein disclosed.

What is claimed as new, is:

1. A radiator for a motor vehicle, said radiator having an overiiow leading from an intermediate point in the radiator serving to limit the height to which the radiator can bottom of the vapor conbe filled with water, whereby the part of the radiator above said point will serve as a condenser for the vapor rising from the bod of water in the radiator, and a trap in sai overflow.

2. radiator for a motor vehicle, comprising a water cooling section, a vapor condensing section located above the water cooling section and insulated therefrom, an inlet leading from the upper part of said Water cooling section intol one side of said vapor condensing section, a restricted vent opening from said vapor condensing section at a point remote from said inlet, and means for limiting the height .to which the radiator can be filled with water.

3. A radiator for a motor vehicle, comprising a Water cooling section, a vapor condensing section, said sections being located one above the other, and connections between said sections for conducting vapor from the water cooling section to the vapor condensing section and for returning the liquid condensed in the vapor condensing section to said water cooling section.

4e. A radiator for a motor vehicle, comprising two radiator sections arranged closely adjacent to each other, and connections between said sections constructed and arranged for adjustment to cause both seotions to act as water cooling sections or to enable one section to operate as a water cooling section while the other operates as a vapor condensing section for the vapor generated in the water cooling section.

5. A radiator for a motor vehicle, com- .prising a water cooling section, a vapor condensing section arranged to receive vapor from the water cooling section, and connections operable at will to enable the vapor condensing section `to also be used as a water cooling section.

6. A radiator for a motor vehicle comprising a water cooling section, means for facilitating the filling of said section with water, an overflow for said section, a valve in said overflow, a vapor condensing section connected with said water cooling section to receive vapor generated in the latter section, and a vent for said vapor condensing section.

7. A radiator for a motor vehicle comprising a water cooling section, a vapor condensing section located adjacent to said water cooling section and in communication with the latter section to cause the vapor rising from said water cooling section to be condensed in said condensing section and the liquid so condensed to be returned to the water cooling section, a filling connection for said water cooling section, an overflow pipe for said water cooling section, means for closing or opening said overflow pipe whereby when the overflow pipe is closed the vapor cooling section may also be filled with Water vand Water cooling section,

por condensing 5 radiator having from an interm A radiator for a motor vehicle,

thus enabled to operate as a and a vent for said vasection.

said an overflow pipe leading ediate point in the radiator serving to limit the height to which the radiator can be the part of sai filled with water, whereby d radiator above said pipe will serve as a condenser for the vapor ris- 10 body of water in the rad1ator,

lng'from the a vent leadii from the upper part of said radiator, a ing inlet for said radiatorha trap in said overflow pipe, and a valve 1n said overflow pipe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to thiss eoification.

CHPARLES W. E. CLARKE. 

